Marcus Smart won the award for NBA’s 2021-22 Defensive Player of the Year. He provides great strength to his team with his elite defensive skills and puts his team as a strong defensive unit. Marcus is one of the best defenders in the NBA in recent times, and he proves that by his performance. In the 2022 NBA Finals, the Celtics (the team Marcus plays for) finished the league’s best defensive rating(106.2 points per 100 possessions).
Though Smart is only 6’3″ it seems like he is 6’8″ when he plays on court. Smart has guarded perimeter players like Kyrie Irving and Jrue Holiday during the Celtics’ run to the Finals. He might not be as tall as compared to others, but he covers up that flaw with his extraordinary skills.
Marcus Smart had a tough time guarding Anthony Davis?
Marcus reminisces about the time when it was very difficult for him to guard Anthony, he realized that he had to be clever while guarding AD because AD was too big for Marcus. Marcus understood that the only advantage he had over AD was the speed. He used to try to force AD to bring the ball down so that he could take away the ball from his hand.
It was the only way Marcus had to guard AD. Anthony Davis, being a 7-foot guy, was too tough for short-heightened guards like Marcus.
Marcus traded to the Memphis
Recently, the Celtics traded Marcus to the Memphis Grizzlies in a complete three-team trade.
The Celtics are trading Marcus Smart to the Grizzlies as part of deal, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 22, 2023
This trade resulted in Kristaps going to the Boston Celtics.
Comparision between Marcus and Anthony
Both played against each other 13 times. Out of them, Anthony won 5, and Marcus won 8.
NBA Regular Season Stats
Points Per Game
Anthony : 24.0
Marcus : 10.6
Rebounds Per Game
Anthony : 10.4
Marcus : 3.5
Assists Per Game
Anthony : 2.4
Marcus : 4.6
Steals Per Game
Anthony : 1.3
Marcus : 1.6
Blocks Per Game
Anthony : 2.3
Marcus : 0.4
Total Stats
Total Points
Anthony : 1427
Marcus : 1377
Total Rebounds
Anthony : 627
Marcus : 469
Total Assists
Anthony : 150
Marcus : 524
Total Steals
Anthony : 74
Marcus : 144
Total Blocks
Anthony Davis : 121
Marcus Smart : 51
Total Games
Anthony Davis : 55
Marcus Smart : 108
